


A Book Club of Sorts

by orphan_account



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-11
Updated: 2020-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:27:31
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 826
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23106202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Harley has left the life of crime for a simple one, and forms a relationship with Batman as they share literature with one another.(strays from canon)
Relationships: Harleen Quinzel & Bruce Wayne
Comments: 5
Kudos: 18





	A Book Club of Sorts

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first fanfic I've ever written, so don't expect too much...   
> Please leave suggestions if you have any! I am open to critiques!  
> This is gonna stray from canon a lot, so bare with me.   
> I don't really know how long this will be, or if I'll continue it past the first part.

A young woman, no older than twenty seven, sat with her legs crossed - a seemingly uncomfortable position - in a small arm office chair. She was bent diligently over a letter, a disorderly stack of papers on the desk to her right, and a box filled with more letters to her left. Each letter had visible wear from being handled and read so many times. Unlike the others, the letter currently in her hand was brand-new, having arrived earlier that day. As she read, hunched over the letter unceremoniously, her pale blonde hair began to fall from an untidy bun. It had been years since she had worn her hair in anything other than pigtails, and getting it to cooperate was proving far more difficult than expected. Absentmindedly, she reached up and twirled her hair as she neared the end of the letter.   
"-I've really missed you, Harls. I don't want you to think that I'm asking you to come back, I respect your decision to lead a normal, well, relatively normal life. I just miss your company. I'm proud of   
you, Harley, I really am."  
As she read the last few lines of the letter, Harley felt tears beginning to well. The truth was, she missed Red, too. She missed the excitement from her previous life, well, up until her puddin', 'no', she thought, 'The Joker', pulled that damn stunt and ended up killing that Robin kid. She had been outside of Gotham, having fun with Ivy, at the time. She hadn't heard a peep about it till Bats showed up at her door. Harley couldn't remember seeing Bats so desperate, broken, and filled with rage before that day. He had slammed her up against a wall and demanded to know where Joker was. Like she would've known... She hadn't seen him since the incident with that Gordon kid. She hadn't liked that, not one bit, and so she left with Ivy. Eventually, she convinced Bats that she didn't know squat shit about what was going on, and the anger had dulled behind his eyes, replaced in-full with grief. Though she'd never admit it to anyone, that was the day she started to see Bats as human. She had helped him that day, telling him where to look, guiding him, and watching quietly from the shadows as the man she had once thought she loved was dragged back to Arkham sneering. The Joker had seen her, she was sure. How? She didn't know, but he had glared daggers at her. She had watched as he mouthed "Don't worry, Harls, I'll come for you." before breaking out in a fit of maniacal laughter.   
Harley had never been so scared in her life.

Now, as she sat in her small, cozy studio apartment, a chill ran down her spin. Choosing to ignore it, Harley snatched a piece of paper from the stack on her right, and a pen that had been tossed, haphazardly, unto the desk hours before. 'Time to respond to Red', Harley feebly tried to shake the growing unease by shifting her attention.  
"Heya Red! It's sooooo good to hear from ya again. I was beginning ta worry that I never would!"  
Harley paused, unsure of what to say next. Not much had happened since her last letter to Red, and she didn't want to be boring... 'Well, I could always tell her about my little thing with B-man...'  
A month or so ago, Harley had began to notice someone following her. Fear had enveloped her, a part of her convinced that it was Joker. After a week of mounting fear and anxiety, Batman had finally decided to make himself known. He had slipped in through the window, giving Harley an honest to God panic attack. At least he had stayed to help her calm down and apologize! A few days after, Harley had come home to find a book and a note sitting on her desk.   
"Sorry for frightening you, Quinn. I noticed you like to read, thought you might enjoy this."  
The book he had left was an old, well read copy of Agatha Christie's "Starring Miss Maple".  
She had gobbled it up, loving every word on every page.  
That had been the start of her little book club with Batman. The thought still made her laugh. Sure, a club is usually more than two people, but it was the closest either of them could really get to something... Normal.   
Snapping herself back to the present, Harley started to write all about it to Ivy. The walk down memory lane had distracted her from the uneasy feeling in her gut, and she lost herself in her letter to Red, until she became aware of the creak of her floorboards growing louder. The fear and unease returned immediately.  
"Bats...?" she asked hesitantly, her voice barely above a whisper.  
"Guess again, Harls."  
She recognized that drawl, she could never forget it.  
Joker had come for her.


End file.
